How getting to grips with consent forms can improve school results

My twin boys had their first day of school this week. I thought it might bring to an end a six week period in which I've been bombarded with paperwork. I was wrong.

I thought the original application period was painful. The forms to apply for the schools of your choice are thorough to say the least. I then had the joy of completing them twice. Identically.

The problems with consent forms management

Don't get me wrong. I'm grateful for the thorough nature of the questioning, particularly when it comes to protecting and making my children safe. What I am somewhat surprised by however is the over-reliance on paper. Each time I drop my children off I see the teacher clutching armfuls of reply slips which presumably need filing and retrieval later.

The storage of this paper is becoming an issue. One headteacher told us that they have multiple filing cabinets just for consent forms and a file for every pupil.

Retrieval of consent is also an issue. Checking a whole school year's consent before authorising a school trip is laborious. Often the teacher needs to re-check consent with some of the parents all over again.

At least there is some guidance as to what forms you can use. The UK government at least has provided sample forms for off-site trips. The issue seems to be that there are so many activities for which parents are asked to consent.

• Giving medicine
• Taking of photos during school performances
• Use of photos in marketing
• Use of biometric payment systems
• Using personal data to sign up to learning systems

The Solution

At KnowNow Information we decided that we wanted to do something to improve the process. Our Consentua software was originally designed for large marketing organisations. We saw that we could set up standardised templates for schools using the most frequently requested consents.

The Consentua service is designed to be as lightweight as possible to minimise the impact on your teaching staff and the parents. It keeps a standardised 'consent receipt' which can be used with other consent and personal data management systems. Consent retrieval is as simple as searching by pupil or consent purpose.

We have worked with some local schools to refine the service and ensure it works for them. Introducing new consent requests and ensuring there are multiple administrators so that teachers, assistants and clerical staff can all check consent at any time.

Getting Started

The cost of Consentua for schools has been limited to £99 per year (usually £899). You shouldn't need any further help or consultancy to get started as you will usually have the forms already. The system is unobtrusive and only takes minutes to set up. Full details are available here.

You can also apply for a 30-day trial of Consentua at contact@consentua.com. We will be happy to help any school set themselves up and test the system.

If you want to end the misery of form filling and let our teachers do what they do best then please give this article a thumbs up. We'll know we are doing the right thing and will let your views be known to the education authorities!